SmartDraw

April 04, 2016 by Laurie Parker
Categories: Design & VisualizationProductivity & Utility

Availability: 7 day free trial or purchase a license
Comparable: Visio, Dia, Google Drawing

SmartDraw logoSmartDraw is a diagramming tool that can be used to create flowcharts, org charts, mind maps, and floor plans. Users can create graph-based, chart-based, or schematic diagrams.

SmartDraw integrates with Microsoft Office. With just a click, drawings can be sent to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Outlook. It’s also compatible with Visio, allowing the user to import existing Visio files and continue work in SmartDraw.

SmartDraw Cloud allows users to create and edit diagrams in their web browser, whether they are on Windows or Mac.

There’s a 7 day free trial available for both the browser-based or desktop version.

 

Tags: flowchartvector

GraphPad Prism

April 01, 2016 by Laurie Parker
Categories: Analysis & Modeling

GraphPad Prism logoAvailability: Department of Biological Sciences — Contact biologyhelp@uncc.edu to request your departmental license.

Comparable: R

GraphPad Prism combines scientific graphing, comprehensive curve fitting (nonlinear regression), understandable statistics, and data organization. The software was originally designed for experimental biologists in medical schools and drug companies, but is now used by all kinds of biologists, social, and physical scientists to analyze, graph and present their graphical data.

Prism can create highly-customizable graphs that can be exported as high-resolution image files for publications, PowerPoint presentations, Web sites, Word documents, and more.

GraphPad Prism is available for both Windows and Macintosh computers.

 

Tags: statistics

Mendeley

February 08, 2016 by Laurie Parker
Categories: Productivity & Utility

Availability: Free Download
Comparable: Zotero, EndNote

Mendeley logoMendeley is a free reference manager and social network that helps users organize their research, collaborate with others, and discover new research. Search and sort references, documents and notes in one place. Users can read, annotate and add sticky notes to PDFs.

Mendeley generates citations and bibliographies in the desired style and is compatible with Microsoft Word, LibreOffice and BibTeX. Reading lists, references or full text articles can be shared either publicly or privately. Groups can be created to work on research assignments, share feedback, and write papers. Published research can be showcased with colleagues, peers, and classmates.

The program combines Mendeley Desktop, a PDF and reference management application with Mendeley Web, an online social network for researchers. Users can store all of their research in one place and access across devices. Mendeley requires the user to store all basic citation data on its servers and storing copies of documents is at the user’s discretion.

Mendeley is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux and provides 2GB of free online storage to automatically back up and synchronize the library across desktop, web and mobile.